During the period following Sep. 11, 2001 and the anthrax releases that occurred shortly thereafter, public health laboratories in the U.S. became severely overloaded with potentially harmful specimens of many descriptions that needed to be assessed and identified rapidly. While HAZMAT teams and other resources were helpful in many cases in assessing radiological and explosive hazards, most public health laboratories lacked the training and equipment to cover and contain a broad range of chemical and biological hazards. This lack of expertise and equipment presented a high level of uncertainty and anxiety for laboratory personnel who received samples and had no way of knowing how hazardous they were. Such uncertainty and the very real potential for harm to personnel and consequent massive loss of laboratory capacity has strengthened the demand for a standardized approach to specimen receiving, triage, and assessment under conditions that will protect each laboratory facility and its staff while also ensuring the integrity of forensic evidence and preserving a legally defensible chain-of-custody. Embodiments according to the present invention are designed to address at least the foregoing needs.